Master Photographer Quinn Jacobson Talks About His Craft

https://blog.fieldtripp.com/2016/08/29/master-photographer-quinn-jacobson-talks-about-his-craft/

Quinn Jacobson - A Photographic Heritage

A documentary made by the very talented French artist, Benoît Boucherot. It's about some of my time in Europe - this is the story of how Centre Iris represented me. It shows some of my exhibition, portratis session work, and teaching in the studio in Paris - 2010 - 2012. 

The American West Portraits; Hanging

I was very pleased with our trip to Paris to open my show. The photographs were received well, attendance was great and we had a wonderful time. 

We'll go back to close the show in June and do some more teaching, portraits and research for my next body of work. It's all very exciting. Thanks to everyone that helped make this possible. All of the sitters, the gallery, and most of all Jeanne!

These are some images that Fabrice Pejout posted on Facebook. These show the space, you can see why I get excited about my work hanging in this gallery. 

Here's an English article about the exhibition: France Revisited  

All 16"x20" Wet Collodion Positives - raw and real. photo by Fabrice Pejout

The main hallway - but there is a lot more to the catacombs that the images show. photo by Fabrice Pejout

Two 16"x20" Wet Collodion Positive plates. Photo by Fabrice Pejout

A Short Respite and Satisfaction

Quinn holding three 16" x 20" (40 x 50cm) Ambrotypes. Photos by Jeanne Jacobson

It’s Saturday morning, the sun is shining; I have espresso in my cup and have absolutely nothing on my "to do" list today. I haven’t felt like this for over a year!

For the previous eight months, I've been working seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day. I know that’s not healthy, but I had to do it at least for that finite time.

Since Jeanne and I landed at Denver International Airport last June, we’ve been setting up our personal lives, setting up a studio, making photographs, readjusting to America and preparing for the opening of my exhibition in Paris in three weeks. It’s been a long, exhaustive and expensive journey, but I can see the reward coming soon – soon as in less than three weeks – when we board the plane for Paris, France.

Like so many things in my life, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to make this happen had I known what it was going to take. And like so many things in my life, I have no regrets about saying, “Yes, I’ll do it”. Too often, people default to “No, I can’t” to every opportunity that presents itself.  They live with regret and miss out on living life. It’s a lot easier to say, “No”, than to say, “Yes.” It’s easier to be negative than to be positive. Why is that? 

I know it’s trite and cliché, but you have to ask what does “living” mean? I know it’s different for everyone, but the underlying theme is taking chances, taking risks, going where there’s no safety blanket or safety net. Getting out of your comfort zone, getting out there – and I don’t mean that you have to go abroad – it can be as simple as public speaking, changing jobs or quitting your job. Or, in my case, making an international move and then making a new body of work for an exhibition in Paris in six months time. Those things will make you feel alive. An English idiom we use is, “You have skin in the game”. That means you have something to lose or that you’re invested.

Regardless how successful, or not, the show is, I have already experienced something amazing. I arrived in Denver with nothing and in six months time, created a meaningful body of work that I’m proud of and that didn’t exist until I made it. It’s a very satisfying feeling. And to have a gallery in Paris that is excited and supportive means the world to me.  

The plates (glass and metal) are packed in the crate on the left and the photo supplies are in the foot locker on the right. These packages will be sitting in the gallery on Monday!Jeanne and I packed everything up Wednesday night. I had a crate built for the artwork and we used a hard case (large foot locker) for the supplies we need there. The inspiration for the blog was an email I received this morning telling me that the crates cleared customs in Orly, France and will be in the gallery on Monday.

Thank you, Jeanne! You made this happen for me! I love you!

The Last Day of 2010

Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where everything is ending. Or at least it feels that way.

It’s a bitter-sweet thing. I’m in one of those places right now and wondering how it all happened so fast and what will fill the “hole” on the other side of the pond. While endings can be sad, they can also open the door to opportunities; and that’s where I have to keep my head, or at least try.

Today, I’m reflecting on leaving Europe after five years, Summer’s evolution into adulthood (the loss of “my little girl”) and just the overall loss of what I know now – my life – if you will. The year is ending, too. That’s what started me writing. I thought I could use the last day of the year as a metaphor for my life right now.

I was in my studio/darkroom yesterday and I was trying to devise a plan of where to start to break it down. It made me sad. In a lot of ways I don’t want to go back to America. In other ways, I can’t wait. It’s a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least. I walked out of my darkroom full of anxiety and didn’t touch a thing. I need to get in there today and start packing!  

We’ve met and befriended some of the finest human beings on this big blue ball (you know who you are) here. Europe and the Europeans have been very good to me and my family. This has been, without question, the best part of my life. The people, the experiences and the personal and professional growth has been amazing. I’ve learned more about myself and about life in these five years than the previous forty. I hope I can take some of that back with me and am able to share it without sounding arrogant or condescending. Americans could learn a lot from Europeans, I know I have.

I’ve been treated like a king here. And I’ve been respected and acknowledged for my work. I’m afraid that I will lose that returning to the States. No one knows me and no one cares what I’ve done here. It feels like I’ll be starting over in a lot of ways.  I’m okay with that; I just don’t want to keep taking one step forward and then three back.

I have to thank Centre-Iris Gallery (Olivier and Pierre) and all of the fine Parisians that supported me this year. What a wonderful experience! Merci beacoup! To have a gallery in Paris that supports you like Centre-Iris is overwhelming. I’m very grateful and will return every two years with new and exciting work to show Paris. A big thank you to our friend, Benoît Boucherot, too! He made a wonderful documentary about me (see the previous post). 

To every studio, cultural center, art school and individual artists in Europe (Barcelona, Reus, Gothenburg, Budapest, Dresden, Cologne, Vienna, Glasgow, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, and many, many more) that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and teaching at (and there have been a lot of them); thank you! You’ve allowed me to grow and taught me more than I taught you. I’m eternally indebted to the hundreds of people that I’ve had the opportunity to meet, teach and befriend; thank you! I wish I could stay another five years.

Summer and Jesse just spent three weeks with us. They flew back yesterday and are back in America today (31 December 2010). I was able to get them in the head brace for a plate during a private workshop with Bernd Radtke. We had fun; we went to Amsterdam, Belgium (Lummen) and Aachen (Germany) to see friends and have some fun.

I miss my life here already. 

Summer Joy Jacobson - December 18, 2010 Viernheim, Germany 5" x 7" Black Glass Ambrotype

Jesse Vriens - December 18, 2010 Viernheim, Germany Half Plate Clear Glass Ambrotype